At that time my dad was driving an 85 Max and I was like 7 or 8 years old. We went to a Nissan dealer and my dad sat inside an 89 Max that was brand new at the time. At that time I didn't know that the car he was sitting was a newer generation Maxima. I kept on thinking to myself "how come the corner lights look similar?" My dad and I checked it out and I thought to myself how cool the car was but then I found out 2 or 3 years later that it was a Maxima.

Anybody would like to share?

 

I was thinking about this the other day, when exactly I fell in love...I can think of 3 differnt things that finally led to my obsession.. I think the first time I really saw a Maxima was like hmmm maybe 6 years ago (3rd gen) and it was at my uncles house, he has a beautiful black SE, this is when it was fairly new, and he is the first and only owner, my family has never had alotta money or nice cars, so my mom and I were like WHOOOOOOAAAAA, that is the nicest thing Ive ever seen, it was BEAUTIFUL! I remember just being in total awe of this thing. btw, he still has it, I would love to see it now, I dont think Ive seen it since then.
This one is really silly, but Im pretty hockey obsessed and used to go to portland winterhawks games ALL the time, me and my best friend were puckbunnies, well our two fave players were bobby russell, and bobby duncan, and we used to fantasize about how her bobby drove a black 3rd gen maxima, why I dont know but we just thought it fit him and made him really kewl, so everytime we saw one we were like theres Bobby!!!
And the 3rd one is the ex, that wasnt real attractive but his 3rd gen sure was! I remember riding in his car, and looking at the inside, and I said, "You know these cars are really ahead of their time, they must have been really expensive in their day"

 

I have always had a thing for 4-door sports cars...i wanted a taurus SHO since i was like 13 and i finally got one earlier in the year this year....i loved it it was soo sweet and fast and smooth. It burned a lot of oil though so i got rid of that and got my max. Well i didnt love it at first. The trannie died 50 miles after i got it. It rode rough. And the drivers seat was torn. I missed my sho a lot then. I got the trannie fixed and started driving it then, and i realised that this wasnt nearly as fast as the SHO was(i didnt know the 90 SEs wernt DOHC when i got it). Well i was like ok its not as fast but its more reliable so its all good. Now it seems like it is as much of a money pit as the SHO was gona be but i still love my maxima
If only the maxima had the SHO's motor that would be heaven but im gona stop blabbing now

 

The first time I saw a 3rd Gen on the street I thought it was a nice design and didn't think too much about it afterward. It was in 1994 when I got to experience what driving one felt like. I had an S-10 Blazer whose brakes died. While the truck was in the shop, I rented a '94 GXE from Budget and immediately fell in love with it.
After turning the GXE in, I began shopping for one. I looked at a '94 SE and was nuts about the acceleration.
But since the note was prohibitive, I looked at a '94 GXE. Nice car, but the note was still high.
Fast forward to 2000. I had a 1988 Caprice whose 305 croaked on my way to work. For 3 weeks, I was in a 3 different rental cars (Malibu, Alero, Grand Am). I thought about buying one of those three (along with a SHO, Century, Blazer, Impala SS, V8 T-Bird). However, I did not want to get rolled with high fuel costs. While looking on a dealer website, I happened across the Maxima I now own.

 

First time I saw one was my aunts 89. I remember sitting in the backseat (back in 89 or 90) and thinking how cool it was that we were listening to sir mixalot in the car on a CD. now that same car is mine.

 

you said how they were really expensive and ahead pf their time...Ahead of the time, maybe but really expensive? Nah, I thought my car (basically loaded except no leather)would ahve been about 30k when ti was new, but I saw the receipt (this used to be my uncles car and i got it) it was only something like $20,050 I think...Not too expensive, the new Max's now have really reached into a new bracket. Since prices have gone up since then, how much would 20k then be now? And, do any of you know how much your max's were new (orignal owners, or close to it).

PJ

 

Iv got the orignal window sticker for mine out in my dash...ill get it and post it later Im definently not the first..second..or even 3rd owner but somehow all the orignal papers stayed with it

 

This was also before I knew alot about maxs, now I could give a nice price quote, on most of the maxs, but I still think brand new they are expensive. 20k is alot to me ;-)

 

The window sticker on my (totaled) 90SE 5spd was $23,400
The window sticker on my 92GXE auto was $22,100 (approx)
the window sticker on my 93 300ZX Twin Turbo was $41,382.27

 

About two and some years ago, I had $6K to spend on a car, me and a dealer friend were planning to go to the NADA auction, I put together a list. It had to be V6 and a 4 door.

My first draft included: 92-94 Maxima, 92-94 V6 Camry, 92-94 Mazda 929( What was I thinking?), Mazda V6 626( Another ugly one), 92- 95 Taurus SHO. Right away I threw out the two Mazda's because of the questionable looks and reliabilty, I liked the Camry only because of reliabilty and the 190 HP V6 but the looks disgusted me a bit. For me it came down to the SHO( I drove it and was simply impressed) and the Max. I thought about it and realized that except for the engine, the SHO was still a crappy American car, the cheesy interior put me over the top.

I came that day looking for a 92 SE w/all options, but when the 94 GXE w/ a one owner virgina title, incredible showroom condition( Best I've seen at that time) rolled around, I told him to go bid. He got it for me for $5750+ $150 auction fee. Looking back at it now, I still think my 94 looks nicer than many new products and am very happy with the decision. In two+ years it has never let me down.

 

That's awesome!!!

There's a place here in Omaha "Omaha Auto Auctions" that has thousands of cars that are auctioned off everyday but the ones that are available for "dealers only" already have been inspected. Which means for us, it's kinda risky, but if you get a good deal, then go for it!

 

I had no clue the ZX was a $41k car! How much did you pay for it? What are the 0-60 / 1/4 mile times? With everything but leather, my uncle looks like he got a deal for 20k when yours were both about 23k (or the other people got ripped off pick one ...

PJ

 

For me, "ahead of their time" means the actual appearance of the car. I have a 90 and am still amazed that my car is more attractive than a ton of 2001 models and makes coming out today. That also might be due to the fact that my car is the color of coffee and the paint looks like it's brand new. Yummmmmm cofffeeeeeee.

 

I don't remember the 1st time I saw a 3rd gen, I got really interested in cars which was around 93' (I was 11 ) Anyways, my uncle had an 88 Maxima, that was the 1st car I rode in United States, I was 9 years old then and just remember the ride being smooth and the car being really quick. I liked the looks of a 3rd gen for years and years, since the time the 4th gen came out in 95, I remember thinking that the older maximas looked so much better, why the hell did they change it. I've been waiting for like 3 or 4 years for the day I can get a car and I always wanted a 3rd gen, I thought it was the best car I could get in my price range, it was the best looking car to me, along with the Acura Legend (still feel the same way) I was shopping for similar cars as NYC GXE, it was narrowed down to 92-96 V6 Camry or 90-94 Maxima. Got what I wanted. Now I really like the 4th gen, I think I know what my next car will be

 

I still remember the 3rd gen when it came out, and frankly I didn't really like the styling at first, as it was such a departure from the previous gen Max. But over the years it grew on me, and I thought the SEs were especially cool. Now that I look back, I realize how advanced this car was. Here was a car in 1989 had the similar overall dimensions (length/width/height),styling (look at the rear fascia hint - GXE vs LE/XLE and SE vs SE), engine (3.0L V6) as the Camry did 3 years later. It had the industry-first black on white/white on black at night gauges.

 

I've always like the maxima's since the 2nd gens...I can remember being like 9 yrs old & loving the way they looked as far as my 3rd gen, well it was the 2nd car I test drove...I wasn't even supposed to be buying a car, just shopping around) but when I took it out for a spin & peeled out of the dealers parking lot I knew I had to have it. It was the only car on the lot that didn't have a sticker price, I'm assuming because they were asking way to much for it, but I told them I wouldn't pay over $10K for it & I ended up getting it for $9500 (without finance charges). I've had the car for 3 yrs (on valentines day ) and it runs great..

 

My 3rd gen was my dad's. I've always thougt it was a sweet looking car, but I never thought it had any "go" in it. I was wrong. Before my dad got mine I had never really paid attention to Maximas. I always knew a Z when I saw one though.